MK Palmore: Lead from where you stand. [CISO] [Career Notes]

Please enjoy this encore of Career Notes. Director of Google Cloud's Office of the CISO, MK Palmore, dedicated much of his life to public service and now brings his experience working for the greater good to the private sector. A graduate of the US Naval Academy, including the Naval Academy Prep School that he calls the most impactful educational experience of his life, MK commissioned into the US Marine Corps following his service academy time. He joined the FBI and that is where he came into the cybersecurity realm. MK is passionate about getting more diversity, equity and inclusion into industry. We thank MK for sharing his story with us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we are joined by ⁠Selena Larson⁠, Threat Researcher at ⁠Proofpoint⁠, and co-host of ⁠Only Malware in the Building⁠, as she discusses their work on "Amatera Stealer - Rebranded ACR Stealer With Improved Evasion, Sophistication." Proofpoint researchers have identified Amatera Stealer, a rebranded and actively developed malware-as-a-service (MaaS) variant of the former ACR Stealer, featuring advanced evasion techniques like NTSockets for stealthy C2 communication and WoW64 Syscalls to bypass user-mode defenses. Distributed via ClearFake web injects and the ClickFix technique, Amatera leverages multilayered PowerShell loaders, blockchain-based hosting, and creative social engineering to compromise victims. With enhanced capabilities to steal browser data, crypto wallets, and other sensitive files, Amatera poses a growing threat in the wake of disruptions to competing stealers like Lumma. Complete our annual ⁠audience survey⁠ before August 31. The research can be found here: ⁠Amatera Stealer: Rebranded ACR Stealer With Improved Evasion, Sophistication Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fortinet patches a critical flaw in its FortiWeb web application firewall.  Hackers are exploiting a critical vulnerability in Wing FTP Server. U.S. Cyber Command’s fiscal 2026 budget includes a new AI project.  Czechia’s cybersecurity agency has issued a formal warning about Chinese AI company DeepSeek. The DoNot APT group targets Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mexico’s former president is under investigation for alleged bribes to secure spyware contracts. The FBI seizes a major Nintendo Switch piracy site. CISA releases 13 ICS advisories.  A retired US Army lieutenant colonel pleads guilty to oversharing classified information on a dating app. Our guest is Catherine Woneis, VP of Product at Fingerprint, to discuss how bots are being used to facilitate music royalty fraud. A federal judge is not impressed with a crypto-thief’s lack of restitution. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Miss an episode? Sign-up for our daily intelligence roundup, Daily Briefing, and you’ll never miss a beat. And be sure to follow CyberWire Daily on LinkedIn. CyberWire Guest Today we are joined by Catherine Woneis, VP of Product at Fingerprint, to discuss how bots are being used to facilitate music royalty fraud and how companies can protect themselves. Selected Reading Critical SQL injection vulnerability in Fortinet FortiWeb enables unauthenticated remote code execution (Beyond Machines) Critical Wing FTCritical Wing FTP Server Vulnerability Exploited - SecurityWeekP Server Vulnerability Exploited (SecurityWeek) Cyber Command creates new AI program in fiscal 2026 budget (DefenseScoop) DeepSeek a threat to national security, warns Czech cyber agency (The Record) Indian Cyber Espionage Group Targets Italian Government (Infosecurity Magazine) Former Mexican president investigated over allegedly taking bribes from spyware industry (The Record) Major Nintendo Switch Piracy Website Seized By FBI (Kotaku) CISA Releases Thirteen Industrial Control Systems Advisories (CISA) Lovestruck US Air Force worker admits leaking secrets on dating app (The Register) Crypto Scammer Truglia Gets 12 Years Prison, Up From 18 Months (Bloomberg) Audience Survey Complete our annual audience survey before August 31. Want to hear your company in the show? You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here’s our media kit. Contact us at [email protected] to request more info. The CyberWire is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

UK police make multiple arrests in the retail cyberattack case.  French authorities arrest a Russian basketball player at the request of the U.S. A German court declares open season on Meta’s tracking pixels. The European Union unveils new rules to regulate artificial intelligence. London’s Iran International news confirms cyberattacks from Banished Kitten. Treasury sanctions a North Korean hacker over fake IT worker schemes. Microsoft confirms a widespread issue preventing organizations from deploying the latest Windows updates. Agreements over AI help end a year-long Hollywood strike. Researchers take an  in-depth look at ClickFix. I’m joined by Ben Yelin and Ethan Cook for a look at Congress’ recent attempt to limit AI regulation through preemption. Password insecurity with a side of fries. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Miss an episode? Sign-up for our daily intelligence roundup, Daily Briefing, and you’ll never miss a beat. And be sure to follow CyberWire Daily on LinkedIn. CyberWire Guest Today we’re sharing our latest Caveat Policy Deep Dive—a special segment where we explore the legal and policy forces shaping our digital lives. In this episode, Ethan Cook joins hosts Dave Bittner and Ben Yelin to break down a recent attempt by Congress to use preemption as a way to block state-level AI laws, and what this means for the ongoing tug-of-war over who should regulate AI in America. For the full conversation and a deeper dive into the implications of this federal vs. state showdown, check out the Caveat podcast Selected Reading UK police arrest four in connection with M&S and Co-op cyberattacks (Reuters) Russian Basketball Player Arrested in France at Request of United States (The Moscow Times) German court rules Meta tracking technology violates European privacy laws (The Record) European Union Unveils Rules for Powerful A.I. Systems (The New York Times) Leaked materials came from previously reported cyberattacks, Iran International confirms (Iran Insight) Treasury sanctions North Korean over IT worker malware scheme (Bleeping Computer) Microsoft confirms Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) sync is broken (Bleeping Computer) Industry video game actors pass agreement with studios for AI security (Reuters) Fix the Click: Preventing the ClickFix Attack Vector (Palo Alto Networks) McDonald’s AI Hiring Bot Exposed Millions of Applicants' Data to Hackers Using the Password ‘123456’ (WIRED) Audience Survey Complete our annual audience survey before August 31. Want to hear your company in the show? You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here’s our media kit. Contact us at [email protected] to request more info. The CyberWire is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Patch Tuesday. An Iranian ransomware group puts a premium on U.S. and Israeli targets. Batavia spyware targets Russia’s industrial sector. HHS fines a Texas Behavioral Health firm for failed risk analysis. The Anatsa banking trojan targets financial institutions in the U.S. and Canada. Hackers abuse a legitimate commercial evasion framework to package infostealer payloads. Researchers discovered malicious browser extensions infecting over 2.3 million users. Joe Carrigan, co-host on Hacking Humans discusses phishing kits targeting CFOs. Can felines frustrate algorithms? Purr-haps… Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Miss an episode? Sign-up for our daily intelligence roundup, Daily Briefing, and you’ll never miss a beat. And be sure to follow CyberWire Daily on LinkedIn. CyberWire Guest Today we are joined by Joe Carrigan, a co-host of Hacking Humans, as he discusses phishing kits targeting CFOs. Selected Reading Microsoft July 2025 Patch Tuesday fixes one zero-day, 137 flaws (Bleeping Computer) SAP Patches Critical Flaws That Could Allow Remote Code Execution, Full System Takeover (SecurityWeek) CISA Releases One Industrial Control Systems Advisory (CISA) Iranian ransomware group offers bigger payouts for attacks on Israel, US (The Record) New spyware strain steals data from Russian industrial companies (The Record) Mental Health Provider Fined $225K for Lack of Risk Analysis (BankInfo Security) Anatsa mobile malware returns to victimize North American bank customers (The Record) Legitimate Shellter Pen-Testing Tool Used in Malware Attacks (SecurityWeek) Researchers Reveal 18 Malicious Chrome and Edge Extensions Disguised as Everyday Tools (Infosecurity Magazine) Cat content disturbs AI models (Computerworld) Audience Survey Complete our annual audience survey before August 31. Want to hear your company in the show? You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here’s our media kit. Contact us at [email protected] to request more info. The CyberWire is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Researchers release proof-of-concept exploits for CitrixBleed2. Grafana patches four high-severity vulnerabilities. A hacker claims to have breached Spanish telecom giant Telefónica. Italian police arrest a Chinese man wanted by U.S. authorities for alleged industrial espionage. Beware of a new ransomware group called Bert. Call of Duty goes offline after reports of RCE vulnerabilities. President Trump's spending bill allocates hundreds of millions for cybersecurity. Nearly 26 million job seekers’ resumes and personal data are leaked. CISA adds four actively exploited vulnerabilities to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) Catalog. Outsmarting AI scraper bots with math. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Miss an episode? Sign-up for our daily intelligence roundup, Daily Briefing, and you’ll never miss a beat. And be sure to follow CyberWire Daily on LinkedIn. Threat Vector Segment Cyber attackers are increasingly targeting the very tools developers trust—integrated development environments (IDEs), low-code platforms, and public code repositories. In this segment of Threat Vector, host ⁠David Moulton⁠ speaks with ⁠Daniel Frank⁠ and ⁠Tom Fakterman⁠ from Palo Alto Networks' threat research team about “Hunting Threats in Developer Environments.” You can hear David and Tyler's full discussion on Threat Vector ⁠⁠here⁠⁠ and catch new episodes every Thursday on your favorite podcast app. Selected Reading Public exploits released for Citrix Bleed 2 NetScaler flaw, patch now (Bleeping Computer) Grafana Patches Chromium Bugs, Including Zero-Day Exploited in the Wild (SecurityWeek) Hacker leaks Telefónica data allegedly stolen in a new breach (Bleeping Computer) Italian police arrest Chinese national wanted by FBI for alleged industrial espionage (Reuters) Beware of Bert: New ransomware group targets healthcare, tech firms (The Record) Call of Duty takes PC game offline after multiple reports of RCE attacks on players (CyberScoop) GOP domestic policy bill includes hundreds of millions for military cyber (CyberScoop) TalentHook leaks resumes of 26 Million job seekers (Beyond Machines) CISA Adds Four Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog (CISA) The Open-Source Software Saving the Internet From AI Bot Scrapers (404 Media) Audience Survey Complete our annual audience survey before August 31. Want to hear your company in the show? You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here’s our media kit. Contact us at [email protected] to request more info. The CyberWire is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ingram Micro suffers a ransomware attack by the SafePay gang. Spanish police dismantle a large-scale investment fraud ring. The SatanLock ransomware group says it is shutting down. Brazilian police arrest a man accused of stealing over $100 million from the country’s banking system. Qantas confirms contact from a “potential cybercriminal” following its recent customer data breach. The XWorm RAT evolves to better evade detection. Cybercriminals ramp up fraudulent domains ahead of Amazon Prime day. Apple sues a former engineer allegedly stealing confidential data. Our guest is Rob Allen, Chief Product Officer at Threat Locker, discussing why 'Default Deny' could be the Antidote to Security Fatigue. AI image editing blurs the evidence.  Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Miss an episode? Sign-up for our daily intelligence roundup, Daily Briefing, and you’ll never miss a beat. And be sure to follow CyberWire Daily on LinkedIn. CyberWire Guest On our Industry Voices segment, we are joined by Rob Allen, Chief Product Officer at Threat Locker, discussing From Noise to Control: Why 'Default Deny' Is the Antidote to Security Fatigue. If you want to hear more from Rob or Threat Locker, you can listen to them here. Selected Reading Ingram Micro outage caused by SafePay ransomware attack (Bleeping Computer) Police dismantles investment fraud ring stealing €10 million (Bleeping Computer) SatanLock Ransomware Ends Operations, Says Stolen Data Will Be Leaked (Hackread) Police in Brazil Arrest a Suspect Over $100M Banking Hack (SecurityWeek) Qantas Contacted by Potential Cybercriminal Following Data Breach (Infosecurity Magazine) Arbor Associates reports data breach exposing patient information (Beyond Machines) XWorm RAT Deploys New Stagers and Loaders to Bypass Defenses (GB Hackers) Amazon Prime Day 2025: Deals Await, But So Do the Cyber Criminals (Check Point) Apple Accuses Ex-Engineer Of Stealing Vision Pro Secrets, Silently Accepting Job At Snap Inc., And Covering His Tracks By Wiping Data From Work Laptop (WCCF TECH) Cops Use ChatGPT to Edit Drugs Bust Photo, Goes Horribly Wrong (PetaPixel) Audience Survey Complete our annual audience survey before August 31. Want to hear your company in the show? You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here’s our media kit. Contact us at [email protected] to request more info. The CyberWire is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Please enjoy this encore of Career Notes. Ground Labs' Head of Engineering, Swati Shekhar, shares her circuitous route from and back to engineering. Always being interested in leveraging the tools available to solve problems, Swati talks about how she found her place in engineering. She mentions how she had her first real experience with a computer when she was 17 in her first year at college. Aside from being one of 30 young women in a sea of 500 young men there, Swati described it as a "good culture shock because anything that takes you out of your comfort zone actually makes you learn and grow." She notes that challenges experienced in life increase your risk appetite so significantly. Swati advises those looking to make a job change to be certain of what is attracting them and to be yourself. We thank Swati for sharing her story with us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Please enjoy this encore of Research Saturday. This week we are joined by ⁠⁠Silas Cutler⁠⁠, Principal Security Researcher at ⁠⁠Censys⁠⁠, asking the important question of "Will the Real Volt Typhoon Please Stand Up?" The FBI's disruption of the KV Botnet in December 2023, attributed to the Chinese threat group Volt Typhoon, targeted infected systems but did not affect the botnet's control infrastructure. Despite law enforcement efforts and technical exposure, the botnet's infrastructure has remained largely stable, with only changes in hosting providers, raising questions about whether another party operates the botnet. Censys scanning data from 2024 shows a shift in the botnet's control servers, indicating a response to disruption attempts, while the botnet's operators have shown limited efforts to obscure their infrastructure. The research can be found here: ⁠⁠Will the Real Volt Typhoon Please Stand Up? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Please enjoy this encore from our T-Minus Space Daily segment Deep Space. Parker Wishik⁠ from ⁠The Aerospace Corporation⁠ explores how experts are turning data into decisions in the space industry on the latest Nexus segment. Parker is joined by⁠ Jackie Barbieri⁠, Founder and CEO of ⁠Whitespace⁠, and Dr. Steve Lewis, Leader of The Aerospace Corporations’s ⁠SPEAR team⁠. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Be sure to follow T-Minus on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠. Selected Reading ⁠Aerospace Advances Massless Payloads for Space Missions⁠  ⁠Aerospace Experts Are Turning Data into Decisions⁠ ⁠Aerospace recently assembled a team of highly skilled scientists and engineers who play a critical role in addressing national and global disruptions in GPS and other radio frequency spectrums.⁠ Want to hear your company in the show? You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here’s our ⁠media kit⁠. Contact us at ⁠[email protected]⁠ to request more info. Want to join us for an interview? Please send your pitch to ⁠[email protected]⁠ and include your name, affiliation, and topic proposal. T-Minus is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices